Historically, recovery and rehabilitation from shoulder surgery required a lengthy stay in the hospital. More recently, there is an increasing trend towards performing shoulder and other related surgeries on an out-patient basis as a means to contain cost and increase the availability of hospital beds to patients undergoing more radical and invasive surgeries that require comprehensive post surgical aftercare. Consequently, shoulder surgeries are often done on an outpatient or same day surgery basis and the patient is sent home to manage on their own rather than being in the comfort, care and coverage of a hospital and nursing staff.
Among the most significant challenges facing a patient who has undergone shoulder surgery is finding a means to comfortably lie down on a bed for resting or sleeping without exacerbating the pain and discomfort from the surgery. This generally requires that the patient not lie in a fully supine position and keep the post surgical shoulder on a comfortable surface at a certain angle relative to the patient's body. The standard pillows used on a bed are not capable of providing the special ergonomic support required for a post surgical shoulder, nor are they a safe alternative because their use to support a post surgical shoulder may in fact exacerbate the pain and discomfort in the shoulder and prolong the rehabilitation process. Pillows need to be positioned but then shift, settle and move throughout the night making such support difficult and short lived. What is needed is a specially constructed bed accessory or device that can be placed on the bed to provide support and comfort to the post surgical shoulder while the patient is resting or sleeping on the bed. Moreover, such specially constructed bed accessory needs to support not just the shoulder on its own but when it is in a post surgical shoulder sling provided by a hospital and/or orthopedic surgeon, post surgery. Prior art in the area of bed accessories and devices have not adequately nor fully addressed the critical issues faced by a post shoulder surgery patient in providing the best support and comfort to the patient when resting or sleeping on a bed.
The use of special pillows to support the various parts of the body while resting or sleeping in bed, are well known in the art as for example, the adjustable wedge described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,089,615 to Parimuha. Some prior art have also addressed the issue of alleviating pain in the shoulders by providing specially configured pillows such as the orthopedic pillow with a recessed area to insert the shoulder while a person is lying on their side as described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,069,515 to Tingey. U.S. Pat. No. 8,043,241 to Goumas describes a support system for a post shoulder surgery patient comprising an arm cradle, side bolster and a support pillow all separately secured to a mat positioned on a bed, floor or other flat surface. A drawback with this prior art is that the patient is restricted to lying in a supine position and does not have the ability nor the means to raise his upper body when they feel the need to, as for instance, to assist in getting out of bed, having a drink from a cup or bottle, or having a meal while still resting on the bed. Nor does such prior art have a hinge mechanism to ensure the stable and even elevation and recline of the patient. Also, such prior art is not designed to support a patient using a shoulder sling provided by a hospital or orthopedic surgeon and as such likely explains the lack of adoption of the prior art into the commercial post surgical medical market. Finally, the prior art does not stabilize the shoulder in a position of abduction (i.e. positioned resting against the chest of the patient) and/or external rotation (i.e. positioned out at an angle away from the body) as is required by medical protocol for a number of common shoulder surgeries and conditions.
Inflatable mattresses and pillows that facilitate the raising of the upper body are also known in the art. U.S. Pat. Appl. Pub. No. 2007/0028388 (Fletcher) describes an inflatable mattress-like apparatus to lift a person from a supine position on the ground to a sitting position above ground level. U.S. Pat. No. D651,840 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,992,241 both to Davis III describe an inflatable, wedge-shaped upper body elevator device suitable for lounging. U.S. Des. Pat. No. 407, 259 to Jackson illustrates an inflatable orthopedic pillow. None of these devices are suitable or safe for use by a patient who is attempting to recuperate from shoulder surgery. Among the many drawbacks of these and other inflatable mattresses, pillows and wedge-shaped devices are their narrow and flimsy construction with no peripheral support for resting the repaired shoulder at a comfortable angle to alleviate the post operative pain and discomfort, nor barriers on either side of the devices to prevent the patient from rolling off a bed accidentally while resting or sleeping. None of them are also capable of being remotely inflated by the patient's themselves to a comfortable angle to rest their post surgery shoulder.
The present invention addresses and overcomes the deficiencies in the prior art for an apparatus or device specifically constructed for the comfort and rehabilitation of a post shoulder surgery patient while lying, resting, or sleeping on a bed or similar structure. The features and advantages of the bed wedge of the present invention are configured to provide support, comfort and rehabilitation of the repaired shoulder on its own as well as for use and support of the shoulder while in a hospital and/or orthopedic surgeon-prescribed shoulder sling. The present invention will be best understood through the summary of the invention, detailed description of the drawings and the claims that follow.